Sunday 3 July 2011

I love it when Konami shows us some love


Infernity Knight
Level 6/DARK
Fiend/Effect
If you have no cards in your hand, this card can attack your opponent directly.
ATK 2000 DEF 1000

I love the little things like this that Konami does. The card isn't great, the most use it will ever see is being Infernity Destroyer's replacement (due to Stygian compatibility). But it does have nice artwork and it is always good to increase the size of an archetype. It will go nicely with the holo Infernity Necromancer Kevin said he would get round to making at some point.

This got me thinking; a lot of people don't appreciate the little things (or sometimes even the big things) Konami does. A lot of people have this hatred towards Konami, and I don't blame them. Historically they have done some nutty things, just look at Reborn Tengu. They've also done some pretty nasty things to TCG set rarities, or did they?

Reborn Tengu is the most recent widely available power card. Naturally, almost all of the meta has been overwhelmed by it. That got me thinking, perhaps Konami does things for reasons many of us wouldn't consider. For example, look at Pot of Duality and Solemn Warning. In the OCG, they are super rare and common respectively, and the probability of pulling one in a pack is massively increased due to set numbers.

If you take a gander at Shriek Twoday's event coverage, a massive majority of decks are using 3x PoD and 2x Solemn Warning. This isn't surprising, the cards are amazing and in much higher supply. Now look at the TCG, see the difference?

A lot of decks are reliant on PoD, decks like Gravekeeper's, Gadgets and Agents. Because PoD is so hard to get in the TCG, these decks are pretty scarce. Look at the current metagame (ignoring Tengu). Zombies in first place, Infernity in second place. I highly doubt that they would have gotten there if they had to face a hoard of GK decks.

I think this was reflected in the early days of Dueling Network. The first 4 decks I faced were all GK decks, which resulted in unpleasantness due to lack of side decking. It got to the point where I had to main answers to them,

It's not surprising. It's a quick, efficient win, meaning a lot of people want to play it. The barrier that prevents people doing so in reality is the ludicrous price tag on PoD.

Long story short: set rarities are also used to control numbers. I've never really hated set rarities, if I need something I either get it or I use a different deck. But for the first time I'm actually happy about rarity bumps. I doubt we'd all be so worried about Tengu if it were a secret rare. Holos also look nicer. *glances at shiny Infernity deck*

But that's just my opinion. I think we're a bit too quick to hate on Konami.

~Valafar123

6 comments:

  1. That's a good way at looking at the rarity bumps. I agree with your article. Perhaps if more people looked at the good instead of the bad, but oh well...

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  2. I like this view on it makes sense.

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  3. Quite a nice way of looking at the rarity bumps. I guess there might be more than just the "Konami is greedy" reason behind it.

    Also, aren't you satisfied with Duel Terminal Infernity Necromancers? I would be really happy with a Duel Terminal Scrap Beast or Scrap Goblin.

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  4. I completely disagree. Yugioh is full of try hards who will pay any amount of money to get cards and win events - i.e. Teledad. The most expensive and rare cards didn't stop that deck from dominating or being the most feared deck of the time.

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  5. To be honest I have to agree with Mr. Bonacini. Additionally, rarity bumps make it harder to get the cards needed to be competitive at all. Warning is a staple, and it is hugely expensive. It is things like this that keep me from playing.

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  6. I agree with Valafar123 to an extent. Sure, expensive cards prevent locals from showing up with the staples needed to run decks like Gravekeeper's but for a big show like Nat's? Not really.

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